The Net that Catches Me
by Typhlogirl
Summary: Ty Lee reflects on her life at this moment. One shot, Ty Lee POV.


I'm a free spirit. I don't like rules or restrictions. I don't like being bound to one place or thing.

So growing up as the daughter of an important Fire nobleman was not an enjoyable experience for me, to put it lightly. Day in and day out, I was told what to do, what to say, what to think. I had to be perfect. I could not make a mistake.

Of course, I made mistakes. A lot of mistakes. I laughed too loudly. I played too much. I daydreamed constantly about better things; a better life. I can still hear my mother's voice in my ears, relentlessly scolding me for one misdeed or another.

'_For Sozin's sake, Ty Lee; will you please try to act like a noblewoman for once?! Do you not care about the pain your father and I suffer upon seeing you disgrace us in front of the court with your antics?'_

But I couldn't stop; I couldn't be what they wanted me to be. My spirit was slowly dying in that palace; the very air was poison to my soul. My only escape was with my friends, who I spent the majority of my time with, but even with them I felt stifled. There's something about the company of a Princess and a fellow aristocrat that doesn't make for a light-hearted atmosphere.

As I grew older (but not that much wiser, unfortunately), I began to feel angry and rebellious toward my life as opposed to sad and submissive. My parents weren't the terrifying presences they were when I was a young child, when they could intimidate me into obedience by raising their voices. I was trapped; trapped in a net that I was hopelessly tangled in. My aura grew black, I grew depressed, bottling my emotions inside my heart whilst still striving to maintain the mask of perfection I was expected to wear 24/7.

My decision to run away was not spontaneous, which is unlike me, as I tend to be rash with my choices. I sat down and thought it out carefully for at least a day, weighing up the pros and cons, meticulously going over everything that would change, and would be changed.

In the end, I decided that I _would _do it. My parent's would probably be glad to be rid of me, anyway. My contortionist skills were unparalleled amongst the other students of the Royal Fire Academy for Girls, so I set my sights on a circus I had seen perform at the palace a few weeks previous. I had chatted to a few of the members, and they were incredibly friendly, and admired my talents when I showed them a few of my tricks. They didn't have an acrobat, and I had loved having their presence at court and sharing in their happy atmosphere. It lightened up the dankness. Even Mai seemed to enjoy it.

I only told my two friends about my plan; because they were the ones I was truly going to miss. They didn't cry (though I did), but Mai's hug lasted for at least five minutes (or so it felt, anyway).

It didn't take too long for me to catch up to the circus, and they welcomed me with open arms. I adored performing, I adored my new freedom and I adored my new friends.

But as the days went on, even though my happiness was at a level I had never ever dreamed it would achieve, I still felt like part of my soul was tied back to the palace, to the life I had happily left in my memory, where I prayed it would remain. No, there was still something that denied me from freeing myself completely from the fiery net woven around me.

Because I am bound to a person. Bound with ropes that I know I will never be able to break as long as we both live.

Don't get me wrong; I do not hate her. On the contrary; she is one of the most important people in my life, for more than one reason. Without her, my world (and the rest of it, for that matter) would not be the same. I feel her presence all around me; it's in my very soul, and I always have the feeling I'm being watched somehow, by someone, though there is never anyone there when I turn around. She is always with me; even when I am alone, I _feel_ her somehow beside me, smiling with her lips but never her eyes; her eyes don't smile, they smirk and sneer.

She's the one who controls my destiny; I've learnt that now. I have her friendship, but she has all of me.

So as I see Azula approaching, her face bearing that smile that I have come to love and to fear, I feel the net returning around me, tightening once again.


End file.
